Something that I very clearly remember being present in our home growing up was music. Music is practically the fourth member of our family. And while there are particular songs or artists that I associate on a personal level with certain parts of my life, my family and I also share a collective memory of music and the part of our life that it relates to. For example, Brick by The Ben Folds Five is a song that we listened to over and over again. Granted, it is one of the saddest songs ever written, and the content of the song was not personally relevant, but it is a beautiful song and Ben is one of our favs. He is one of the few musicians who my mom will swear with when she sings along. (James Blunt in Beautiful is one of the others, just for the record.) In addition to Ben Folds, other family favorites include Barenaked Ladies, Tom Waits, and Cat Stevens. The three of us definitely all love music.
But two of us (my dad and I) LOVE music. We have a few bands and artists that we love that my mom may or not particularly love. For as long as I can remember my dad has introduced me to new artists, taken me to shows, and made music a huge part of my life. One such band is Guster. LOVE LOVE LOVE Guster. Always have. And when you meet another Guster fan, they LOVE LOVE LOVE them too. There is no "like" with Guster. You never hear they're okay. If you're down with Guster, then you're a fan until the end.
Guster took a brief hiatus to spend some time with family and make some new music but THEY'RE BACK! See, this is the 10th anniversary of their album Lost and Gone Forever, so they are doing a tour where they will play the album from start to finish, and then (I believe) do a mini show of other material after. Lost and Gone Forever was released in 1999, the year that I graduated from high school. I forget who said it, but one of the reviews of the album was that it was "music to hang yourself by." Unfortunately, I couldn't find a link to that review! And while the album does not bring about suicidal tendencies for me personally, the album name is definitely not just a clever title. The music is beautiful, thoughtful, and even haunting. It is definitely one of my favorites.
So tonight I have a date with my dad to go see Guster at the House of Blues. We haven't seen them together since their last tour, a little after Christmas 2007. So I'm pretty stoked. Well, my family has a tradition of music and my rock & roll daddy and I go see shows together and share bands and music with one another. What memories do have of your family? What did/do you and your dad love to do together?
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